Yep. My 2017 explorer has been basically the most reliable car my family has ever owned, but if someone was just going off the number of recalls, they'd think 2011-19 explorers had a lot of problems. But so many of those recalls are basically for cosmetic issues.   Like I had a recall because a few of the clips on the roof rack cover were popping up on the rear. The cover as a whole still seemed to be firmly attached, so it wasn't in danger of flying off, it just didn't look great. Then there are recalls because these decorative black panels on the pillar might come off.    Meanwhile Nissan cvts are destroying themselves left and right and to my knowledge, Nissan never issued a definitive fix for them via a recall. Ford's out here recalling over cosmetic issues essentially, and other brands are ignoring their powertrains exploding. 

Expy and navigator had air suspension until 2014.  Why ford refuses to add it is a mystery.  Apparently, during the 5th gen presses, they said the customers didnt want it, but everyone on the 4th gen forums have been either asking for it or lamenting the ride quality in comparison to others.  As well as soft close doors, they also offer some type of niche camera system such as night vision or under carriage views. Its a shame, because the 4th gen until the refresh was a compelling product, but like you said, lincoln refuses to make the navigator a worthy flagship, considering how much they are charging.   Atleast the expy missing some features won't be missed as much since it does have cinsiderable feature content on par with its peers, and as a while, feels up to par.   Im also noticing, many people are starting to have quality issues with their navigators, but not much if anyone has had any actual issues with their expys.

It still depends on how many Super Duties they can sell.  If Super Duties are maxed out and capacity is available then they will look to increase volume with upgrades and/or price reductions.   It’s hard to justify spending money on upgrades when increased sales just cannibalize Super Duty or Expy sales even with the high ATPs. That’s just business math.  Why spend $50M on upgrades if the net ROI is 0%?  The only reason they would is if they were losing too many sales.

It's been a bit since I've been in all 3, but I recall Maverick being almost all hard plastics, while Escape and BS had some soft touch plastics on the dash area.

That's a good point. I'm guessing maybe it has to do with the cab structure/doors themselves at this point.....since they reused the cab and doors, they couldn't include them for whatever reason?   It's also funny - Navigator (and expedition) had air suspension back in 2004, yet here we are in 2025 and it doesn't.     It'll be interesting to see if sales do increase more as they're able to make more.....i.e. have sales been artificially low, or is that just the level they're at?

Correct.  And while I'd rather have a fixed glass roof than a regular solid roof, I still like the option of opening it.  What I'm curious to see is whether it fits within the same opening as the current vista roof, or if they make the opening larger now that they don't have to accommodate the mechanical hardware to open it?     Eh, I'd disagree - there are people out there that want the performance with a more "luxury" interior, vs. the sporty and all-black interior of the ST.   That said, you're also right that for many buyers, the 2.3 would be sufficient.   This seems like a typical "reduce build combos/complexity" move as a model ages....they shifted the powertrain option from one trim to another.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/29/business/tesla-earnings-elon-musk.html   Tesla's full year profit was $7.1B, and down from $15B in 2023.  But still more than the $2.76 of credit sales, so something is profitable at Tesla lol.

Yes.  That should change when OAC starts producing SD trucks next year, maybe freeing up a bit of space for Expegator production.

Whoops, I didn't read closely enough - I missed that his statement was regarding VDS, not IQS.   Disregard my above comments lol.   Let's hope that things continue to improve, and hope that the recall situation resolves itself soon, because even if they're minor issues and/or it's Ford being proactive rather than reactive, it's not a good look, and an easy target for a media that loves a punching bag.  We all know how people love to read incendiary headlines these days too and media does it for clicks/ad revenue.

The New Mazda CX-5 Is Almost Here   So much for phasing out the single number CX-_ models.  Obviously we can't see full details yet, but looks more or less like the outgoing one from spy shots.  It debuts July 10th.